


The Hydra Syndrome

by hexnhart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Funeral, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 16:29:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13057809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexnhart/pseuds/hexnhart
Summary: Cut off one head and two will grow in its place. Evil can never be eradicated from the Galaxy, and its seeds lie in the best intentions.





	The Hydra Syndrome

Leia Organa’s life was punctuated by loss. To the extent that when she stood on the dais overlooking the execution of her son, it was just another event in the string of bereavements started by the death of a mother she’d never known. There were, of course, tears in her eyes, but they did not weaken her resolve or made her hand stay the executioner. Her subordinates and allies were watching and their faith was much more important than a heart-ache she had long learned to bear.

It would be death by high-frequency electric impulse, delivered through a hand-held device. The impulse triggered cardiac arrest – fast, painless and irreversible. The device was charged for two shots: for Kylo Ren, formerly of the Knights of Ren, apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke, allegiant of the Dark Side, traitor to the Resistance and mass murderer, and for General Hux, formerly of the First Order, mass murderer. Both had been found guilty of heinous crimes against humanity and other sentient races within the explored Galaxy, under the New Republican Constitution, element B, paragraph 4. Currently, the two were kneeling side by side, hands bound behind their backs. Beacons delineating a Force-suppression field flickered along the perimeter of the execution platform. The Resistance was always efficient at learning from past mistakes.

Ren’s head was bowed, strands of dishevelled hair shielding his expression. There may have been light in his eyes or fear of death. Hux was glaring unseeingly in front of him, his gloveless fingers twitching ever so slightly behind his back. The reason for this was for Kylo and himself only to know – that he wanted to slap the knight, hard, berate him for getting them both caught, and maybe kiss him afterwards, in lieu of a farewell.

General Organa lifted her hand slowly and graciously, as if she was waving to dignitaries at some officious gathering. Lieutenant Wier raised the device in synch with her, pressing it to Kylo Ren’s temple. As the impulse unloaded in the eerie quiet there was a single cry of ‘Ren!’ General Hux jolted against the guards that held him, then went limp, permanently, having received the dose of electric shock intended for him.

Leia paled, going even more still than she was before at Hux’s outburst. His shout passed so fast, already fading from memory, but she could not mistake the anguish and the unspoken tenderness in it. The Generals were not dissimilar after all, taught to hide their soft sides behind a carapace of steel. The two bodies twitched for a few moments, already devoid of the brilliant minds that had governed them. There were no cheers or gloating as the corpses were dragged away, no more now than Ben Solo, son of two Rebellion heroes, and Armitage Hux, a talented cadet from Arkanis. The Resistance knew well when to mourn their enemies, even if each member breathed a little easier after the execution.

Leia was permitted a small cremation ceremony, an evening to mourn for her son, and, out of some afore undiscovered respect for the enemy General, to place the two of them on one funeral pyre, hand in hand. So that on the other side of whatever divide the Force commanded between life and death, neither would be as alone as she was now.

As she stood by the pyre, the flames picking up lazily and swirling their tongues towards the peppering of stars, Leia noticed a First Order issue hat lying on the ground at her feet. It must’ve belonged to Hux and had fallen off when they shrouded the body. She picked it up, about to toss it into the flames, when a girl carrying a bundle of blankets bumped into Leia’s side. The hat slipped from her fingers.

“Ouf. I’m sorry.” She must have been about nine, auburn hair tied back into two ponytails, hands clasped a bit too tight around the blankets. Another orphan of the conflict, probably. Leia stopped counting long ago.

“It’s alright.” The older woman brushed away the tears she did not notice streaming down her face. “What’s your name?”

“Suli.” Yes, Leia remembered right, one of the children rescued from the fray. She stooped down to be at eye level with the girl, meaning to reassure her, but no words came. Then after a while…

“They weren’t bad people. No such thing as bad people in the world, Suli. Just misguided ones.”

The girl nodded, half-burying her face in the bundle at her chest. She looked so out of place at the funeral, but here she was.

“You run along, I’ll just… I need a moment.” Leia stood up again and moved a few paces away to avoid the smoke that now poured from the pyre in acrid plumes. The girl scuttled away, but not before she snatched the rumpled hat off the ground. It was smeared with dust and bent out of shape, though a few pats restored it to a semblance of its original state.

Suli had seen the execution, though expressly forbidden to do so. Everyone seem to be sure of what they were doing, so she did not question the proceedings. The words ‘traitor’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ had a vague sense in her mind, the Hosnian Crisis – only a dim image of rushing feet and commands being shouted. General Hux’s cry as he watched Ren die was familiar as anything, Suli’s mother called her name the same way before she was cut down by stormtrooper fire. Then General Organa, who was wise and kind and knew everything, said that the red-haired man wasn’t bad, not really, just confused. He had been clever, that much she was certain of, otherwise the Rebels would not see him as a threat and would definitely not have killed him. Perhaps, had something not gone wrong (Suli wasn’t quite sure what), the First Order would have been the best thing ever.

The smoke was getting thicker, bisecting the little glade with a grey girdle. All the blankets were dealt out to the people who kept Leia company out of politeness or some ulterior motives, and little Suli headed back to base and the little cot that was all her own. The hat was clutched firmly against her chest; it felt oddly reassuring, like a torch or a relic that was passed on to her from a great man. She would learn and become as he was, not terrible but fair, she would set things right at the head of a fleet of golden X-wings. Then, when all was in order, she’d make sure there would be no more wars, governing a peaceful world without strife. Tonight, little Suli would sleep with the General’s hat under her pillow and dream of Galactic domination.


End file.
